Crumbling towers will be eyesores for decades

January 28, 2014

Mr. Don Wert's (letter) on wind turbines was an excellent evaluation. I would like to add my findings and analysis in a study I did three years ago; conditions have not changed. Wind turbine generation negatives can be divided into segments - wind power and aesthetic concerns; noise; health hazards; failure to acknowledge unforeseen consequences and distribution and storage.

In the interest of brevity I would like to comment on the first segment and possibly The Sentinel will allow me to vent my concerns and findings on the other segments in future letters to the editor.

Wind power and aesthetic concerns: Proponents of wind power ignore the fact that hour to hour, season to season, the windiest sites experience periods of calm. A wind turbine does not have to be idle to be deemed inoperable. Ten to fifteen miles per hour velocity is required to generate effectively. A study determined that the whole state of Rhode Island would have to be covered with wind mills to satisfy the energy requirements of Manhattan.

Large power plants can't respond quickly to hourly variations of the wind; they must be already in operation when the power of wind drops off. This is not a savings, or economical in any respects.

Beech Ridge Energy began construction of 119 wind turbines in Greenbrier County, Va. The turbines will be visible from Monongahela National Forest, Watauga State Park and Cranberry Wilderness Area. Where are the "green people" who fought against drilling in ANWR because the few acres required would spoil the wilderness.

One resident of Greenbrier County remarked that years ago the land was dotted with auto junk yards and satellite dishes and now we're creating an eye sore which, when the company goes bankrupt, fallen or standing rusted out towers will be left.

This form of generation is not reliable for this area. Because of its unreliability, technology will not be improved and what is almost a certainty is that wind generation will be done away with and other forms of generation will be improved by leaps and bounds.

I, personally, think that solar or wind generation will never be a success, however, if I'm forced to live with a failure, I choose solar. The rotting panels will lie close to the ground while crumbling and rusting towers will be an eyesore for decades.